Kenny keeping things Lowe-key

Perth Glory coach Kenny Lowe has played down the significance of a record-breaking week for his league-leading side.

Glory started the week with a maiden win over Central Coast in Gosford last Sunday before booking a spot in the inaugural Westfield FFA Cup final only 48 hours later.

The historic week for the club was capped off with a first-ever win over Asian champions Western Sydney at nib Stadium on Saturday night.

But the usually ebullient Lowe would not be drawn on what the week of firsts meant for a club which has not tasted success since the last days of the now-defunct National Soccer League.

“I think you’ve got to rejoice on that (the historic wins) … but again there’s one part of me that says let’s not get carried away after six or seven games,” Lowe said.

“The season is 27 games, plus finals, and then three years after that … that’s where you think, ‘oh yeah, we haven’t been too bad’.

“The guys in that dressing room deserve all the plaudits they’re getting at the moment, and rightly so. They’ve worked really hard through pre-season and they’ve got a certain mindset that they want to carry through.”

Lowe admitted his side “ran out of petrol” in the last 15 minutes of Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Wanderers as fatigue from a busy week set in, but he praised his battle-weary charges for taking a positive approach towards the each match.

“(When we found out) we were playing the FFA Cup game on the Tuesday, a couple of the lads turned around and went, ‘brilliant, we’ll get an extra day of rest before the Wanderers’,” Lowe said.

“I moaning that we’ve got a 48-hour turnaround and they’re thinking we’re getting an extra 24 for this game, so the mindset of the group is ‘it doesn’t matter’ and you saw tonight we dug in deep and we’ve played some super football.”

Glory is top of the Hyundai A-League with five wins from six matches, but Lowe said his side still had some issues to address, particularly when it comes to scoring goals and winning games on the road.

Perth will host fifth-placed Wellington Phoenix on Friday night before consecutive away games against Brisbane Roar and Sydney FC that will truly test the championship credentials of the current league leaders.

Lowe expected Mitch Nicholls and Jamie Maclaren to return from international duties in time to face the Phoenix, but Brazilian winger Sidnei (calf) is an unlikely starter.